over the fiscal cliff. he's also claiming to call on congressional leaders to make sure we raise the debt ceiling without contention. the white house making the case that extending the bush tax cuts for the middle class is directly connected to the health of our businesses. companies need to know consumers will be able to spend and in his first post-election interview president obama again rejected the house republican counteroffer that is on the table. >> unfortunately the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. >> let's hope he sticks to it. >> g.o.p. leaders aren't only dealing with the president and congressional democrats they're dealing with a split within their own ranks. more conservative republicans don't want party leaders to compromise anymore than they think they already have. even though the republican plan offers up $800 billion in new taxes without upping tax rates a